Blogs » Politics » Photo: Drying Nectarines, Sancha, by Juliana D. Balla

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• Photo: Drying Nectarines, Sancha, by Juliana D. Balla
• Nicholas Kristof on Tiananmen and Sweatshops
• Director Reveals Mystery of China’s Film Censorship
• Chinese Court Upholds Fine Against Dissident Ai Weiwei
• Flight attendant suspended from job for taking intimate photos of her peers
• Gaming the System: A New Breed of Sino-foreign Film Co-productions
• China: University's Stability Maintenance Instructions on Diaoyu Islands Dispute
• Wal-mart In China
• Actress Li Yixiao poses for FHM
• Chinese Citizens Demand to Know Why One of Web’s Most Frustrating Sites Cost 300 Million RMB to Build
• Word of the Week: Heir Apparent
• Director Reveals Mystery of China’s Film Censorship System on Weibo
• The Daily Twit – 9/26/12: Stop the Madness!
• Running A Wal-mart In China Is Hard
• One School’s Stability Maintenance Instructions
• Chinese Couples Seek American Surrogate Mothers

Photo: Drying Nectarines, Sancha, by Juliana D. Balla Posted: 26 Sep 2012 10:43 PM PDT Drying Nectarines, Sancha © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Nicholas Kristof on Tiananmen and Sweatshops Posted: 26 Sep 2012 10:21 PM PDT In an open Q&A session at Reddit this week, The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof discussed his experience covering the Tiananmen protests and his views on sweatshops, among other important issues. CaptainApathy419: What was it like covering the Tiananmen Square protests? NicholasKristof: I'll never forget Tiananmen. I was terrified as bullets whizzed over my head. My notebook was stained with my sweat from fear. And that night I saw a level of courage that i've never seen surpassed. there were rickshaw drivers who would drive toward the soldiers and pick up kids who'd been shot and drive them to the hospital. they drove toward me, tears streaming down their cheeks, so that i as a foreign reporter could see the carnage. I was awed by their guts. RedDeadDerp: Do you still feel that sweatshops are still "an unpleasant but necessary stage in industrial development"? NicholasKristof: yes, i do. i think the critics of sweatshops are right in their criticisms, and on top of those problems some of those factories also have environmental issues (e.g. dump pollution in a river). But the big need in poor countries is jobs, jobs, jobs. And garment factories provide those jobs, often to women who don't have a lot of other alternatives. i remember a mother in indonesia telling me that her dream for her son was that he work in a sweatshop. My wife's native area in China, taishan, has been transformed by sweatshops, and women have benefited in particular. In Africa the big problem is that there aren't enough factories. I know it's not a popular view, but i think that the one thing worse than being exploited by a foreign investor is being jobless. supahappyfuntime: Hey Mr. Kristof, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do an AMA. Would you rather fight one horse sized duck, or 100 duck sized horses? NicholasKristof: Definitely one horse-sized duck. Then I'd distract it with some cracked corn and, as it gobbled it up, I'd jump on its back and take it for a flight. I'm too poor to afford a private plane, so a personal horse-sized duck would be a nice alternative. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: development, industrial pollution, industrialization, June 4th, new york times, nicholas kristof, sweatshops, Taishan, Tiananmen Square Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Director Reveals Mystery of China’s Film Censorship Posted: 26 Sep 2012 10:27 PM PDT Exasperated by the long and tangled process of gaining official approval for his latest movie, Mystery, director Lou Ye took to Sina Weibo to describe what was going on, and ultimately removed his own name from the credits in protest. From Tea Leaf Nation: Over twenty days from September 8 to 26, Lou tweeted his negotiation process with SARFT [the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television]. At one point, Lou tweeted, "I'm waiting for an answer: Can the film be released on time without any changes, yes or no? The answer is so simple but so difficult–[the process] makes me feel disappointed and sad, but I also feel a sense of understanding and support. China's domestic film industry needs everyone to work together. I totally accept the fact that I'm a director in the age of film censorship. I just want a dialogue [with the authorities], and a dialogue is not a confrontation. There are no winners and losers in a dialogue. There are no enemies." […] Lou's exposure of the inner workings of China's film censorship process and bold gesture attracted support from other filmmakers, artists, and average netizens in China. Another director named Zhang Jiangnan (@张江南导演) commented, "Every time I looked at my films after censorship, I thought about removing my name, but I can never be as resolute as Lou Ye. I keep a 'director's cut' for myself to make me feel better. To tell the truth, it's about getting used to eating [expletive]…" A film critic named Han Houye (@韩浩月) commented, "Lou's removal of his name as director is like a hunger strike on the street." See more on SARFT and censorship via CDT, including a speech by writer Murong Xuecun on the "absurdities" of Chinese censorship. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: directors, film censorship, film industry, Lou Ye, SARFT, sina weibo Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Chinese Court Upholds Fine Against Dissident Ai Weiwei Posted: 26 Sep 2012 10:33 PM PDT Artist and activist Ai Weiwei's appeal in his tax evasion case has been rejected, and the fine of US$2.4 million has been upheld. Ai was detained for 81 days in 2011 before authorities announced that his art studio was being charged for tax evasion. From Reuters: "It's an extremely shameless court," Ai, whose 81-day detention last year sparked an international outcry, told reporters. "It didn't respect the facts or give us a chance to defend ourselves; it has no regard for taxpayers' rights," he said, adding he did not know whether now he had to pay to entire fine though he suspected he did. Ai, 55, had asked the Chaoyang District Court to overturn the city tax office's rejection of his appeal against the 15 million yuan ($2.38 million) tax evasion penalty imposed on the company he works for, Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd, which produces his art and designs. "From the Fake tax case (we) can see that there's no fair justice in China," Ai added. CNN has more on the legal inconsistencies with the case: The court directly ruled on the case without holding a hearing and failed to serve Ai sufficient notice of the ruling, according to Liu Xiaoyuan, Ai's legal adviser, who accompanied the artist to court on Thursday. "We submitted new evidence to the court after the first appeal," Liu said. "According to regulations, there should have been another hearing, but there was not." "According to relevant laws and regulations, the court should send a formal written notification three days before the verdict," Liu added. "But the court just gave us a call last night telling us there would be a hearing today," he said, adding that no other members of Ai's legal team were able to make it to the court on such short notice. As is his habit, Ai relentlessly documented his day on Twitter and Instagram. A survey of Ai's work, titled "Ai Weiwei: According to What?" will open October 7 at the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington, DC. Authorities are still holding Ai's passport, even though his probation ended June 21, and so he is unable to travel for the exhibit or for other planned events in the U.S. and Europe, he recently told the New York Times. © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: activists, Ai Weiwei, Ai Weiwei detention 2011, tax evasion Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Flight attendant suspended from job for taking intimate photos of her peers Posted: 26 Sep 2012 02:01 PM PDT Flight attendant Wang Lin (王淋) is a photography enthusiast know in the photography circle, for documenting the life of her peers in the air and on the ground. Recently, Wang sued her employer Okay Airline and demanded compensation, as she was suspended from her job for nine months over the claims that her photos leaked on the Internet brought the company into disrepute. Wang Lin, born in 1973 in Tianjin, became a flight attendant on Hainan Airline in 1992, but she quit in 2003 to study photography at Beijing Academy of Fine Arts. During the period from 2005 to 2010 when she was employed again as a flight attendant on Okay Airline, she undertook her documentary series with consent from her colleagues. The documentary series show female flight attendants in moments when they were not serving passengers. They were seen resting on board flight or in the dorms after the flight, applying makeups, talking in the phones with families, friends or lovers, sharing their secrets, and with other intimate scenes. Wang has exhibited the documentary series in a photography festival and won prize. But it sparked controversy when some anonymous web users turned the photos into a voyeuristic slideshow and spread it online. She was accused of exposing other people's privacy to the public, and in China, female flight attendants refer to a certain appeal of fantasy to the men. Reference: Tapreview.com

Gaming the System: A New Breed of Sino-foreign Film Co-productions Posted: 26 Sep 2012 10:02 PM PDT This article originally appeared in Agenda magazine. Check out the current issue here. At its heart, the global system of foreign direct investment is all about getting into a market, by hook or by crook, before your competition. Often times, markets are already open, and setting up shop is merely a matter of negotiating the deal. In other cases, however, markets remain stubbornly closed, and companies are left with a choice: throw up their hands and wait until the law changes, or find a creative solution to foreign investment restrictions. In China, some of these solutions, for example the use of Variable Interest Entities, work so well that they become the preferred, or default, structures for certain industries, while others turn out to be untenable. One such negative outcome may be playing itself out in the film industry right now. Last month, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) issued a cautionary statement about the misuse of certain Sino-foreign co-productions, reminding film studios that these structures should not be used improperly. What's going on here exactly? For the most part, film co-productions have been utilized properly and effectively in China over roughly the past 15 years. The law allows a foreign film studio to either hire a Chinese enterprise to make a film locally, or alternatively an ad hoc structure can be built up where the two partners share in the investment, production and profits. Most co-productions have been used to make films meant primarily for the China market. They are shot in China, include a primarily Chinese cast, and are filmed in the Chinese language. While these films may be distributed internationally, the bulk of the proceeds come from the China box office. With the exception of films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which was quite successful outside of China, co-produced films have not had a tremendous impact elsewhere. Similar to Joint Ventures, a co-production is not likely to be the first choice of a foreign film studio, which may have the ability to finance a project themselves and many decades of institutional knowledge and industry expertise. So why do they saddle themselves with a local partner? The answer is a familiar one: because they have to. Yes, the foreign studio could hire Chinese actors and screenwriters and film movies in Los Angeles, or London, or anywhere in the world. That production might not even cost more than doing so inside China. The problem is not with the production, though, but rather with distribution. If you want to screen a foreign film in China, you have to obtain permission, and China maintains a quota on foreign film imports. So while a foreign studio may prefer to produce that made-for-China movie all by itself in Los Angeles (although this may be changing), getting that film into China might be impossible. Co-productions are a solution to that problem and others. All films that are made by co-production are considered to be domestic and therefore are not required to go through the importation process. Co-produced films are also not subject to the same "blackout date" problem that plagues the scheduling of imported films, and foreign co-production partners are allowed to take a higher share of profits than for studios whose films are imported. This is considered to be a win-win: China gets the financing and expertise from abroad, and the foreign studios obtain access to the local market. What could be better? Some clever foreign studio executives apparently thought that co-productions were not living up to their potential. They liked the idea of getting around the import quota, but they were also stuck with making movies that were really only suitable for the China market. Although box office numbers here have been growing quickly, the U.S. market is still number one. The solution? Co-productions in name only, just the bare minimum in terms of Chinese actors, domestic production and China-related story lines. Reporting on SARFT's complaints, the Wall Street Journal explained how the game is being played: "Looper," set for release in China in late September, stars Hollywood actor Bruce Willis and was produced by U.S. company Endgame Entertainment and Chinese partner DMG Entertainment. The film features one Chinese actress, Xu Qing, and several scenes shot in Shanghai. Those scenes, however, will only make it into the Chinese versions of the film, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times, which said the scenes didn't test well with U.S. viewers and so were cut from the Western release. Does Looper still qualify as a co-production? Perhaps, if one uses a very narrow interpretation of the law, and the studio is able to convince SARFT that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was born in Jilin. One can almost imagine Endgame and DMG being questioned by the authorities about their co-production and using the disingenuous excuse: "Was that wrong? Should we not have done that? We gotta plead ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to us at all when we first started that that sort of thing is frowned upon…" I suspect that SARFT might be willing to accept that in the short term, but they have sent out a clear warning that they are not pleased at this violation of the spirit of the law. For the foreign film studios, the question then is whether this is the beginning of a crackdown that will force co-productions back to traditional made-for-China theatrical pictures. That remains to be seen, but SARFT's comments are certainly a shot across the bow. From the perspective of global foreign investment, it is ironic that these foreign studios have sought to play the "we're just following the law as it is written" game against China. Many Chinese companies, after all, have themselves skirted rules by creative manipulation of both Chinese and foreign law. Just look at the typical Chinese company that achieved a foreign listing without all those pesky disclosure requirements by use of the so-called "reverse merger" process. Companies will try just about anything to pry open a market. At the margins, some of their more creative attempts can lead to spectacular opportunities, while others can end in slapdowns from the regulatory authorities. It looks the latter scenario for some foreign film studios and their "co-productions." © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: co-productions, film, SARFT

China: University's Stability Maintenance Instructions on Diaoyu Islands Dispute Posted: 26 Sep 2012 07:00 PM PDT Anne Henochowicz from China Digital Times translated a stability maintenance instructions from within an university from Shaanxi province which demands teachers and staffs from various departments to monitor students' sentiment on the Diaoyu Islands disputes and prevent "rumors" from spreading. Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Wal-mart In China Posted: 26 Sep 2012 06:54 PM PDT I have a feeling all it takes is one pissed-off customer to make a phone call to the local officials to get that Wal-mart investigation up and running. It's tough being a foreign investor in China, as Wal-mart by this point knows all too well. Then again, things could be worse. At least it's not a Japanese company. Stan Abrams from China Hearsay commented on a Wal-mart discount hoax case in Hubei province and entered into the national Xinhua news feed. Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Actress Li Yixiao poses for FHM Posted: 26 Sep 2012 11:09 AM PDT Chinese actress Li Yixiao recently posed for a sexy photoshoot for Men's magazine FHM. The 30-year-old beauty co-stars Taiwan-based American singer and actor Peter Ho in the upcoming historical drama television series Legend of Chu and Han, which is scheduled to release at the start of 2013. Li plays the role of Consort Yu, or Yu the Beautiful, who was a concubine of Xiang Yu, played by Peter Ho. During the Chu-Han Contention after the overthrow of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu, King of Chu, was eventually defeated by Liu Bang, founding emperor of the Han Dynasty. When Xiang was besieged in the Battle of Gaixia by the Han army, Consort Yu committed suicide with Xiang's sword to prevent him from being distracted by his love for her. When Xiang then retreated to Wu River, he committed suicide as well.

Chinese Citizens Demand to Know Why One of Web’s Most Frustrating Sites Cost 300 Million RMB to Build Posted: 26 Sep 2012 03:24 PM PDT It's a digital disaster. With a Chinese travel crunch looming, China's online ticketing system is quickly turning into a boondoggle of historic proportions. It all started with a holiday. Lunar New Year in China marks a time of jubilance, but also stress and chaos, as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel home to see their families. Around Lunar New Year in early 2012, travelers made roughly three billion journeys over a 40-day period, putting immense strain on the country's rail system.  Looks pretty slick, doesn't it? Via People's Daily In order to reduce wait times for would-be riders, in early 2012 China's powerful and opaque Ministry of Railways launched an immensely expensive online system, the unfortunately named 12306.cn, to handle the surge in ticket purchases. But as Tea Leaf Nation reported in January, the effort was quickly declared a disaster. The site and its clunky interface repeatedly crashed, only making life more frustrating for the many migrant workers who already lacked Internet savvy. Perhaps chastened by the online vitriol that followed, the Ministry prepared a site upgrade, launching it on September 15. In order to reduce strain on the system, it gives users the ability to wait in a virtual line to get their tickets.  If this sounds silly, that's because it is. Users have since spent hours fighting site crashes, waiting for tickets that run out, and getting inexplicably booted to the back of the proverbial line. As China's Sina finance reported, "It's as if the experience of waiting in line for a train ticket has [simply] been moved online." [1] Some think it's even worse than that. In an article in the People's Daily, a "Ms. Meng" commented, "I'd never have thought that buying a train ticket online would be 100 times as much trouble as standing in line." [2] Zhou Xiaoyun is demanding some answers. Via Weibo The Ministry of Railway's explanations provide cold comfort: "The Ministry of Railways established a task force ten years ago to research an electronic ticket-sale system. The Railway is confident it will be able to solve the problems that have emerged." [3] While building an online ticket interface for over one billion Chinese users is doubtless a highly complex undertaking, after ten years and a reported 329 million RMB (about US$52 million) spent on the project, netizens are fed up. Declaring the 12306 website "harder to land on than the Diaoyu islands," opinion writer Zhou Xiaoyun (@落魄书生周筱赟) has taken to Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, to tweet details of an open information request he has just express-mailed to the Ministry of Railways. His is not the only such recent request sent to the MOR, but it's surely the most colorful. (The Chinese text is available at bottom.) The request, complete with a scanned address slip, is a satisfying if likely futile screed against what Zhou clearly suspects is government graft. It reads: Given the 329 million RMB investment in the 12306 ticket-purchase website and the unfortunate experience of its users, I request disclosure of the following detailed information: 1. The number of companies that put in a bid and the company names;  2. The details of the proposals submitted by each company making a bid;  3. The reported price of each company making a bid;  4. The reasons why Taiji [company, the firm that constructed the online system] and others won the bid;  5. The plan of the Taiji company and other [bid winners], and the budget situation of the 199 million RMB investment in hardware and the 130 million RMB investment in software; 6. A list of the names of the members of the expert committee that evaluated [the bids];  7. It has been announced that 12306 was upgraded between its Lunar New Year crash and September 15; what improvements were made? 8. It is said that when making plans related to online ticketing, the Ministry of Railways rejected the developed plans of IBM, Cisco and others, instead turning the plan over to a research center affiliated with the Ministry, is this correct? Please publicize the prices bid by IBM and Cisco at that time. It gets better. In the field titled "Manner in which the requested information will be used," Zhou writes: [Applicant] does not request the aforementioned information be disclosed because he needs it in life, or for production, or for research, or because he's conducting an investigation; I want to know because I'm bored and have nothing to do, is that not okay? This is the people's right to know! Making information public is the duty of an administrative organ, the Freedom of Administrative Information Law has absolutely no requirement that the applicant state the way in which the information will be used.  Zhou finishes: At the same time this package was sent to the Ministry of Railways via express mail, it was also published online. The Ministry of Railways is required by the Freedom of Administrative Information Law of the People's Republic of China to provide a written answer via express mail within 15 working days.  Given all the pain the 12306 site has caused–and the fact that China's Railway seems remarkably competent when it comes to tracking down would-be dissidents trying to purchase a train ticket to air complaints in Beijing–netizens can only hope that Zhou gets the information he seeks. After all, China's travel-heavy National Day and Mid-Autumn Festivals are only days away. The smart money, however, is that Zhou will simply be told to take a number and stand in line with every other incensed netizen clamoring for answers–and tickets. Footnotes    (? returns to text) 仿佛把火车站的队伍挪到了网上? 网络购票没想到比窗口排队还要麻烦百倍。? 铁道部10年前就在研究院设立课题组，研发电子订票系统。铁路有信心能解决出现的问题。?

Word of the Week: Heir Apparent Posted: 26 Sep 2012 12:00 PM PDT Editor's Note: The CDT Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon is a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and frequently encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China's online "resistance discourse," used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness. The Word of the Week features Lexicon entries old, new and timely. If you are interested in participating in this project by submitting and/or translating terms, please contact the CDT editors at CDT [at] chinadigitaltimes [dot] net. 皇储 (huáng chǔ): heir apparent China's "heir apparent" is Xi Jinping, who it is assumed will succeed Hu Jintao as president in this year's leadership transition. Although "heir apparent" is sometimes translated as "crown prince," it is a separate designation from the "crown princes" (太子 tàizǐ) or princelings, descendants of prominent and influential senior Communist officials. Xi Jinping is both "heir apparent" and a "princeling," being the son of former PRC State Councilor Xi Zhongxun. On February 11, 2009, Xi Jinping discussed international intervention in a speech to overseas Chinese in Mexico, generating yet another grass-mud horse neologism: There are some foreigners who had eaten their fill and had nothing better to do, pointing their fingers at our affairs. China does not, first, export revolution; second, export poverty and hunger; or third, cause unnecessary trouble for you. What else is there to say? 有些吃饱了没事干的外国人，对我们的事情指手画脚。中国一不输出革命，二不输出饥饿和贫困，三不去折腾你们，还有什么好说的. Read more about Xi Jinping from CDT. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: grass-mud horse lexicon, word of the week, Xi Jinping Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Director Reveals Mystery of China’s Film Censorship System on Weibo Posted: 26 Sep 2012 10:13 AM PDT "No film is safe, no film investment is safe, no director's creation is safe [under China's film censorship framework]," said director Lou Ye (@导演娄烨) in a recent interview with Sina, a Chinese Internet portal, that explored his experience with the ironfisted gatekeepers of China's arts and explained his decision to post details of the film censorship process on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter.  (See Lou's interview in Chinese here.) Lou is one of the most prominent victims of China's censorship system, which operates under the thumb of the country's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT). Lou's 2006 film, "Summer Palace," was banned in China because it was the first film to contain scenes depicting the Tiananmen Incident. As punishment for showing the movie at the Cannes Film Festival without official approval, Lou and the producer of Summer Palace were forbidden from making films in China for five years.  In 2011, after making two films in France and after the lifting of his ban, Lou returned to China to for a new project–"Mystery." The story is based on a netizen's post on the Tianya Internet community, a popular discussion forum in China, about a woman's struggle with her husband's cheating. Mystery does not have the political overtones found in Summer Palace, but SARFT nonetheless reviewed the film and issued censorship directives as it does to all films released in China, ostensibly to protect the nation's children as China lacks a film rating system.  Lou explained in the Sina interview that his first cut of Mystery received SARFT comments to pare back sex scenes and re-edit a scene depicting the  gruesome murder of a homeless man with a hammer. Lou complied and received approval to show the film at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012; but four months later and little over a month from the film's public release date, SARFT told Lou that the film needed more editing. An utterly frustrated Lou responded by logging onto his Weibo account and tweeted details of the censorship process.  Over twenty days from September 8 to 26, Lou tweeted his negotiation process with SARFT. At one point, Lou tweeted, "I'm waiting for an answer: Can the film be released on time without any changes, yes or no? The answer is so simple but so difficult–[the process] makes me feel disappointed and sad, but I also feel a sense of understanding and support. China's domestic film industry needs everyone to work together. I totally accept the fact that I'm a director in the age of film censorship. I just want a dialogue [with the authorities], and a dialogue is not a confrontation. There are no winners and losers in a dialogue. There are no enemies." [1] Lou Ye: We Are All Responsible for the Unreasonable Censorship System On September 25, Lou reported that SARFT and the filmmakers had reached a compromise on the murder scene, allowing the film to be released on time. However, Lou also announced a highly defiant gesture: He would remove his name as the director of the film in the public release version.   Lou's exposure of the inner workings of China's film censorship process and bold gesture attracted support from other filmmakers, artists, and average netizens in China. Another director named Zhang Jiangnan (@张江南导演) commented, "Every time I looked at my films after censorship, I thought about removing my name, but I can never be as resolute as Lou Ye. I keep a 'director's cut' for myself to make me feel better. To tell the truth, it's about getting used to eating [expletive]…" [2] A film critic named Han Haoyue (@韩浩月) commented, "Lou's removal of his name as director is like holding a hunger strike on the street." [3] Almost all commenters applauded Lou for his courage. @鬼头安麦齍 tweeted, "Everyone has his principle. At the end of the day, you get old and die whether you stay true to your principles or compromise on them." [6] Commentator Xiong Peiyun (@熊培云) tweeted, "I have seen Summer Palace, and want to show my support. One cannot stand by silently and watch one's creation die, or be murdered." [4] Many other netizens saw the possibilities that could result from making the censorship process public. @张秉坚 asked, "What would happen if every director and producer published the censorship process on Weibo from now on?" [5] @沈晓雯同学 tweeted, "It's not just the film censorship system; in other areas too, our lack of resistance allows such an unreasonable system to continue to exist. We have to shoulder the responsibility to eliminate the system instead of finding excuses for our lack of resistance. Lou Ye, I support you. I love your movies."  [7] @ximenpan agreed, "If everyone in every industry keeps true to his principles, maybe there will be some changes in the end."[8] @含泪笑看你 tweeted, "It is an age of disappointment. It is an age of hope." [9]   Footnotes    (? returns to text) 等待一个回答，能不能不做修改如期上映，行还是不行？这个回答，如此简单，但又如此之难，从中我感到遗憾，失望，从中我也感到理解支持和感动，中国电影需要大家一起努力，我完全接受我是一个电影审查时代的导演，我只是希望对话，而对话不是对抗，对话没有胜负，对话没有敌人? 每次面对删改后的片子，都曾经想过不署名，但却做不到娄烨如此决绝，只能留个导演版，自己看，聊以自慰。说起来，也算是吃屎吃习惯了……? 导演不署名类似于街头绝食抗议? 人各有志 坚持也是老死 妥协也是老死? 看过《颐和园》，支持一下。人不能默无声息地等待自己的创造死亡，或者被谋杀。? 如果今后每部送审片的导演和制片人都把审查过程公布在微博上？！? 不仅是电影审查制度，其他地方，我们的不反抗往往成全了不合理的存在，我们必须对消除不合理有必要的责任感而不是一味的为自己的不反抗找借口。支持娄烨导演！爱你的电影? 每个人每个行业都坚持较真，终会有些许改变。? 这是失望的年代，这是希望的年代?

The Daily Twit – 9/26/12: Stop the Madness! Posted: 26 Sep 2012 05:46 AM PDT We'll soon be rid of two nettlesome matters that have graced The Daily Twit far too often of late: the China-Japan dispute over the Diaosenkakyu™ Islands and the U.S. presidential election campaign. Both of these appear to be headed into the final stretch. First, the maritime dispute, and although there was more disturbing news on this front today, at least I can report that China and Japan are sitting down and talking about it. Guardian: China and Japan meet over disputed islands — The two foreign ministers had a chat in New York while attending the UN assembly. Nice to see that they're taking advantage of the trip to neutral territory. Neutral for them, at least. I've personally always harbored a deep dislike of Manhattan – don't ask me why. The Guardian also has more coverage on some of the more ridiculous fallout from the dispute. Two of my favorites: Japanese books removed from sale by China in row over islands and Chinese film pulled from Tokyo film festival over row with Japan. Keep it classy out there, guys. Telegraph: China claims disputed islands are 'sacred territory' — That's really not very helpful, is it now? Rather laughable as well. On to the U.S. presidential election, or as I like to call it, the contest to see which candidate is the bigger China basher. Let's start off with one of the most idiotic Op/Eds I've read in quite some time: Forbes: Will China Bashing Cost Mitt Romney The Election? — Not sure if this is a parody or what, but not only is the premise completely ridiculous, but the author never even bothers to back up his thesis with either evidence or even logic. Maybe the guy was high when he wrote it or something, I don't know. If you ask me, Romney may very well lose this election, but if he does, it won't be because of the China bashing. FactCheck: Romney Ad on China Mangles Facts — Speaking of Romney and idiots, here's a fisking of the latest anti-China ad from Romney. I can't do this justice in a sentence or two, so if you want a good laugh, click through. You can also read my response: Does Mitt Romney Know the Difference Between Currency Manipulation and IP Infringement? Wall Street Journal: Obama Takes Tough China Talk to Ohio — Not to be outdone, Obama hammers back on the China front, accusing businessman Romney of profiting from China-related deals. Perish the thought! U.S. investors benefiting from China outsourcing? Somebody call a cop, quick! The Diplomat: How to Avoid a U.S.-China Cold War — After all the electioneering crap, this is probably appropriate. This look at the future of US-China relations by Tsinghua's Yan Xuetong is worth a read, although the term "superficial friendship" sounds a bit creepy. In other news: Xinhua: China mulls harsher punishments for illegal mapping — Internet companies that offer map services better follow the rules or face tough penalties, including fines or worse. Among other things, "failure to demonstrate China's complete territory" is a big no-no. If I were giving advice to a startup that had concerns in this area, I would tell them to just label the entire globe "China" and be done with it. I think erring on the side of caution is the way to go here. Forbes: China's Financial Institutions Expand Overseas — Jack Perkowski checks in with a good piece on what China's banks are doing overseas. China Daily: China plans campaign to promote Christian theology — Headline is slightly misleading. This is all about managing/controlling the growth of Christianism (Christiness?) in China, something the government has been doing for a very long time. What struck me here is the idea that the State shall dictate "correct theological thinking," which sent me into paroxysms of laughter. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

Running A Wal-mart In China Is Hard Posted: 26 Sep 2012 04:20 AM PDT The problems retailers face in China are well known, with labor and logistics probably being at the top of the list. For stores that sell food, you've also got to throw in a number of other complications involving food quality and labeling. Now add on top of all that the concerns of foreign investors like Wal-mart or Carrefour, and the idea of running these things sure is daunting. There have been lots of examples over the years of these problems, including Wal-mart's fairly recent issues with food labeling in a few of its outlets in Chongqing last year. And now there's this: A Wal-Mart store in Central China's Hubei province has been fined 100,000 yuan ($15,870) for a discount hoax, the local price watchdog said Tuesday. The store located at Xudong Avenue in Wuhan, capital of Hubei, sold a new product of Blue Moon liquid soap at a self-claimed discount price of 48.8 yuan in May. The price was 1.2 yuan higher than before the promotion, Zhang Jianmin, vice head of the Hubei Provincial Bureau of Commodity Price, told a press conference. "When the promotion price is higher than the traceable lowest price of the period of seven days before the campaign, it is a price fraud," he said. Yikes. The Price Law, and related issues in the Anti-unfair Competition Law and Anti-Monopoly Law, can give a retailer nightmares. In this instance, you had what sounds like a local decision, perhaps just in one store, to sell a certain product "on sale," but in fact the sales price was higher than the sticker price offered within seven days previous to the sale. Apparently you can charge more for a product, but you can't then call that a "sale." Makes sense – that's fraud. No idea whether this was a mistake or done on purpose, but the store was fined 100,000 yuan, and Wal-mart has to deal with this as yet another PR bump in the road. A very small matter, to be sure, but then again, a story about it made it into the national Xinhua news feed, and the Hubei price bureau was talking about it at a press conference. I have a feeling all it takes is one pissed-off customer to make a phone call to the local officials to get that Wal-mart investigation up and running. It's tough being a foreign investor in China, as Wal-mart by this point knows all too well. Then again, things could be worse. At least it's not a Japanese company. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Wal-Mart

One School’s Stability Maintenance Instructions Posted: 26 Sep 2012 12:01 AM PDT The following document from an unnamed university (apparently located in Shaanxi Province) is available, uncensored, within the Great Firewall on Baidu Wenku: Comrades: Just now, Comrade Bailong led a study of the Notice of Maintaining Stability in Universities with Regards to Japan from the provincial committee of education, and Comrade Xiaoqing led a study of the Outline of Publicity regarding the Diaoyu Island disputes from the provincial committee of education. We must follow the spirit of these instructions from above; do our utmost and take the greatest care to practically execute ideological and political work among students and faculty; guide young students to express patriotism rationally; direct their energy towards study and work; and insure the stability of our school. I therefore provide the following instructions on stability maintenance with regards to Japan in our school: 1. University Office of Stability Maintenance Take full charge of stability maintenance tasks with regards to Japan. Immediately start to work in accordance with the emergency plan and be prepared to handle complex situations. Adopt emergency measures. Make conscientious preparations for all types of response and be organized for possible critical conditions. We must quickly discover, diffuse and settle large-scale demonstrations and activities which seriously violate social order in which students are involved. Be prepared to take command at the first sight of an incident and act decisively in order to maintain control of the situation. Arrange staff on duty around the clock. Promptly report emergency and other relevant information to the provincial committee of education. Phone number: 029—88668814 88668815 (fax). 2. Department of Propaganda and United Front Work Successfully execute Japan-related stability maintenance measures handed down from above and transmit the documents you have studied. Explain and publicize the Outline of Publicity regarding to Diaoyu Island disputes to the whole campus. Closely monitor changes in public opinion; promptly determine the tendency of student and faculty sentiment with regards to Japan; track and apprehend the trend of their ideology. Reinforce legal publicity. Educate the masses not to believe or spread rumors and not to attend demonstrations that have yet not been approved. 3. Office of Security Enhance campus security with frequent patrols. Work with student management departments and student organizations at the departmental level to limit Japan-related protests on campus. At the same time, prevent outsiders from entering the campus to make contacts or incite activity. 4. Office of Student Affairs (Youth League Committee) Convene meetings with counselors to successfully complete student ideological work. Take full advantage of the Youth League and student cadres to guide students and faculty to express their patriotic fervor rationally, lawfully and calmly. Closely monitor the trend of thoughts among students. Coordinate with the Office of Stability Maintenance to deal with relevant incidents. 5. Office of Education and Research Launch positive online guidance and strengthen inspection of the campus network. Closely control contents online and in text messages which have a tendency to incite students to organize Japan-related demonstrations and large-scale gatherings. Promptly block and delete contents on campus networks which attack the Party and the government, incite or plan mass demonstrations or exhibit radical or violent behavior. Report these contents to the Office of Stability Maintenance immediately. 6. Schools and Departments Within the University Convene meetings with class advisers to successfully complete student ideological work at the departmental level. Explain and publicize the Outline of Publicity regarding to Diaoyu Island disputes. Work in classrooms and dormitories to ensure student and faculty emotions are stable. Precisely apprehend the ideological trends among students and faculty. Should an unusual situation arise, deal with it promptly and report it to the Office of Stability Maintenance at the institute in which it occurred. Via CDT Chinese. Translation by Mengyu Dong. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: anti-japan protests 2012, diaoyu islands, Japan, stability maintenance Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Chinese Couples Seek American Surrogate Mothers Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:50 PM PDT Stories of Chinese mothers travelling to the U.S. to give birth have become familiar. Global Times' Xuyang Jingjing, though, describes a growing trend of Chinese couples seeking American surrogate mothers. The babies' U.S. citizenship is a welcome side effect, but not the primary objective. Instead, prospective parents turn to America because of its higher success rate and "more developed and open" system for surrogacy. Large demand and a fuzzy legal status have created an underground surrogacy business [in China]. Dodgy adverts can be found across the Web luring surrogate mothers with high pay, usually hundreds of thousands of yuan. There are also many agencies boasting a high success rate in helping desperate couples find surrogate mothers and clinics. […] West Coast Surrogacy, in California, has worked with about 40 Chinese clients, with 70 percent of their clients now coming from China. Lee Truong, in charge of international relations at Surrogate Alternatives, founded in 1998 in San Diego, says they have seen a significant increase in Chinese clients in the last 18 months. "This year, about a third of our clients are from China, and of the babies already born and those still due in 2012, more than 30 percent are children of Chinese parents," Truong told the Global Times in an e-mail. Demand from Chinese couples has driven up prices for eggs from Chinese-American donors, according to a February report by The Los Angeles Times' Shan Li: A Caucasian woman normally gets about $5,000 to $8,000 for 10 to 14 eggs, Steinberg said, with the money technically being paid for the energy, time and pain associated with the "donation." An ethnic Chinese woman can command $15,000 and up for her eggs, according to Steinberg and other surrogacy specialists. "It's supply and demand," Steinberg said. "Chinese are the premiums." Commercial surrogacy in China has suffered varying fortunes since a 2001 ban on hospitals' involvement cast it into a legal grey area. See ''Womb Brokers' Rise to Meet Demand' from 2008 and 'Forced Abortions Shake up China Wombs-for-Rent Industry' from the following year on CDT. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: citizenship, fertility clinics, forced abortion, forced abortions, Global Times, India, infertility, parenthood, surrogate mother, United States Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

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